American Music Awards: Best and Worst Moments

Broadcasted on ABC from Los Angeles' Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE, One Direction and Iggy Azalea home took trophies while Taylor Swift and Sam Smith performed

Taylor Swift's Kickoff

The "Shake It Off" singer began the awards show with her first televised performance of "Blake Space," featuring a live (yet framed) version of her mansion-set music video, complete with a burning rose, a choking suitor, and dancers dressed as zombie ex-lovers. She also transformed her copper-colored gown into a flirty fringe number.

Pitbull Hosts Again

The tuxedo-clad musician started off his monologue just after Swift's performance, of which the host joked, "She just sold another 68 million albums!" And since he's called "Pitbull, Mr. 305, Mr. Worldwide — with three names, they should pay me triple!" He also joked that among the audience, he saw "black, white, pink, purple, orange, Asian, Latinos —and guess what? President Obama said, we can all stay!" in reference to his immigration address, and laughed, "ABC found out last year that when I spoke just 3 Spanish words, ratings went up 142 percent, so get ready for three hours of just subtitles!"

Favorite Band, Duo or Group — Pop/Rock

Patrick Dempsey awarded the first honor of the night to One Direction. "America feels like a second home to us know, it's been amazing how well we've been received," said Liam Payne alongside his four bandmates.

Charli XCX

Introduced by The Fault in Our Stars' lead Ansel Elgort, Charli XCX took the stage to perform "Boom Clap" off of the romantic drama's soundtrack, as well as a bit of "Break the Rules" to the prom-themed set.

Iggy Azalea won for The New Classic, and it's "the first award I ever won in my entire life, and it means so much to me that it's best hip hop, because that's what inspired me … to get through my life, to better times," she said alongside T.I.

5 Seconds of Summer

Introduced by Gavin Degraw and Becky G, the Australian band took the stage for a cover of The Romantics' 1979 track, "What I Like About You."

Imagine Dragons

The Las Vegas-based band gave their latest single, "I Bet My Life," its network television debut, complete with lasers, smoke, fireworks and a choir.

Favorite Male Artist — Pop/Rock

Orange Is the New Black's Taylor Schilling and Uzo Aduba gave the award to Sam Smith. "I am awful at speaking in public, so I am gonna keep this really, really quick!" he said, thanking his fans. "Last year I wrote an album about being lonely, and tonight, I couldn’t feel further from lonely."

Sam Smith

Glee's Dianna Agron and Castle's Nathan Fillion introduced Sam Smith's performance of "I'm Not the Only One" with a verse from A$AP Rocky.

Iggy Azalea

Introduced by T.I. who declared, "Women can rap!," Azalea took the stage with Charli XCX for their hit, "Fancy" in a pair of power suits while at a press conference, complete with paparazzi-dressed dancers. She then swapped into a metallic jumpsuit for "Beg For It" among silver monkey bars.

Introduced by The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1 actress Elizabeth Banks, Lorde performed the song she penned for the film, "Yellow Flicker Beat," initially from inside a small, red-lit room. She then emerged to front a stoic white-dressed group as she touted her now-signature dance moves.

Ariana Grande

Ariana Grande, in a black-lace gown, took the stage for piano-accompanied renditions of "Problem" and "Break Free," and was then joined by The Weeknd for "Love Me Harder."

Favorite Album — Pop/Rock

Before introducing the pop/rock honor, Jenny McCarthy teased husband Donnie Wahlberg about winning the category's award 25 years ago, and even showed off a vintage photo and said, "That's right — I married that guy!" One Direction then claimed the award for Midnight Memories. "We had a lot of fun making the album, Midnight Memories, so thank you to anyone who bought it or even listened to it," said Harry Styles.

Pitbull and Ne-Yo

The host took a break to hit the stage for "Fireball" with a slew of female dancers and a portion of a silver globe behind him. Ne-Yo then joined him for "Time of Our Lives."

Favorite Female Artist — Pop/Rock

Khloe Kardashian Kendall Jenner and Kylie Jenner announced the category's winner to be Katy Perry, who accepted the award via video from Australia.

Favorite Artist — Alternative Rock

Imagine Dragons took home the honor for alternative rock. "To be a musician, there is no better career," said frontman Dan Reynolds.

Selena Gomez

Mary Lambert and Lucy Hale introduced the first live performance of "The Heart Wants What It Wants" by an emotional Selena Gomez, who sang in front of black and white graphics accented with prickly gold wire and red rose petals, among other visuals.

Olivia Munn and Train's Pat Monahan gave the award to Azalea. "Musicians, we receive so much critique, some time you question what you're doing, and this validates that I'm on the right path."

One Direction

Kate Beckinsale introduced a field-set performance of "Night Changes" by One Direction.

Lil Wayne and Christina Milian

The couple hit the stage to perform "Start a Fire" together.

Nicki Minaj and Skylar Grey

The two women in white gathered around a grand piano for "Bed Of Lies."

Dick Clark Award for Excellence

Before presenting the first-ever honor to Taylor Swift, Diana Ross first noted Dick Clark's pioneering ways for musicians: "He opened doors for us, he was a trailblazer, he was a legend."

Dick Clark Award for Excellence

Upon accepting the award, Swift applauded the legacies of Ross and Clark, and thanked her fans for their support during her anti-Spotify stance: "What you did by going out and investing in music and albums is you're saying that you believe in the same thing that I believe in, that music is valuable and should be consumed in albums, and albums should be consumed as art and appreciated."